There's a closet in my kitchen devoted entirely to baking pans. It wasn't designed for that purpose but sort of happened when my collection of cake pans, muffin tins and Kuglehopfs outgrew the space that now holds the Tupperware collection inherited from my mother. Every once in while, and especially in spring, I venture to the back of that closet and discover a pan long retired, or one that's not been used at all. And, so began the revival of a still-wrapped egg-shaped cake pan purchased from Williams-Sonoma, in 1999, and the Chicago Metallic 10-cup Mary Ann cake pan picked up in a thrift shop a few years back. The recipe printed on the egg pan label produced fun egg-shaped cakes, ideal for filling with confections like whipped cream or lemon curd, and the Mary Ann pan turned out a large chocolate cake equally attractive as delicious. Already an edible artform, these cakes won't require much more to make them appear special for the Easter holiday, except perhaps for the company of some daffodils and a bunny. A chocolate bunny. One with ears, a tail, and a good nose for homemeade cake.

The sweeter side of spring emerges in the form of chocolate, daffodils and lemon curd filled egg-shaped cakes. The chocolate Mary Ann Cake, pictured upper left, is deliciously real -- the convincing "chocolate" bunny on the right -- from the Harry and David store in Bluffton (837-2121), fabulously not.

Sue Ade is a syndicated food writer with broad experience and interest in the culinary arts. She has worked and resided in the Lowcountry of South Carolina since 1985 and may be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com.